Falling Into Your Gravity
by Kenzieismyhero
Summary: Formerly titled What is Love. The Master is lonely, while Azula is trying to figure out what love is. For them to find happiness together, they'll first have to decide not to kill each other. Azula/Master shipping, with a PG-13 rating for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Azula, former Empress of the Fire Nation, stood staring moodily out of the window of the space ship. She watched the small, insignificant marble she'd grown up on fade into the stars. She'd never considered there could be life beyond it. But here she was, riding a metal ship off into the stars. It was impossible to believe that she would ever have been happy with just one pathetic, what where they called?

"What are they called again? The thing we just left and the things we're going to conquer?" She turned.

Her companion was beating his finger tips on the railing beside her, in that irritating four beat pattern. "Planets, my darling."

_Planets._ Azula turned back to the shrinking world. "When we have burned many planets, let us return here, so that all the world may know that Azula is much greater than any firelord before her."

"If that's your wish." The man who called himself the Master smiled, still beating the railing.

At first everything about the ship frightened her, and it amused the Master how the girl would bluster to hide it. Within almost a day, the entire crew of the ship—including servants—was terrified of her.

* * *

><p>The first mate came to him within forty-eight hours. "Sir, we know she's your guest and all, but she's already nearly killed two good men. Don' you think we could...?"<p>

The Master smiled at him benevolently. "Do what, Mr...ah?"

"Dawson, sir, and, well, we'd rather like to take her back to her homeworld, sir, or at least place her somewhere safe."

"Mr. Dawson," the Master leaned forward and gently set his fingertips on the desk that had formerly been the captain's. "I invited her highness on the ship for my own reasons, and it would be a shame to have to break my promise to, 'show her the universe,' wouldn't it?"

Something in his eyes must have warned the first mate, because the larger man backed away slowly. "No, sir, I suppose it wouldn't."

"Noooo, definitely not." The Master came around the desk and wrapped a hand around Mr. Dawson's shoulders. He guided the man out of the room and down the hall. "See, that would be very very rude. I am not a rude man, Mr. Dawson. I am a very polite man, except on rare occasions...like this one." The Master gave Mr. Dawson a shove and used his laser screwdriver to close the door behind him. "I hope the cold of space teaches you manners." He walked away as the vacuum pulled Mr. Dawson out of the ship.

* * *

><p>Within hours half of the crew had opted to leave by the same method Mr. Dawson had. The other half was too frightened to protest.<p>

Azula came to visit him when the uprising was finished. "Don't you think throwing half the crew to their deaths was a little...I don't know, overkill?"

"I did it for you, my lovely," he replied, holding out his arm for her to join him on the leather couch he'd brought with him from earth.

With a half-smile half-sneer she sat next to him. "Still, half the crew dead? That's not a good way to start an empire."

"Says the woman who once banished her entire castle staff, such that there were none to attend her coronation." The Master gently kissed her shoulder.

"I was so young then. Why did you come for me?" Azula asked.

"What?" The Master drew back from her.

"Why did you come for me? How did you know I was in that asylum?" She looked up at him through her deep golden eyes.

He looked away, feeling the need suddenly. It wasn't a physical need; in fact it was separate from the one that made him want to push her back against the couch and force himself upon her. That one he kept in check, after all, where was the conquest in that? Instead he looked at the need for someone who understood him, someone who had been over the edge, like him. _The drums_...He began to tap out the rhythm behind his eyes on her shoulder.

"Stop it." She struck him suddenly and pulled away.

"Stop what?" he asked.

"That pounding. I don't like being used as your drum, you idiot!" He voice was an angry growl.

The Master forced himself to still. "Sorry, lovely. Please, sit back down." He forced himself to sound calm, to not betray the anger boiling inside. _She can't hear it. Of course she can't hear it. It's in my head, and my head only. _

Azula sat next to him, on the edge of the couch and not as close as before. He could see it in her future-in their future—it was going to be a long road.


	2. Chapter 2

Flashback:

"Hello, Azula."

Azula didn't lift her head. She refused to acknowledge the presence of her brother, the usurper, the traitor. She heard his stiff robes rustle as she fingered the chains pinning her arms to her sides.

"Your sister has made progress, my lord," one of the doctors—she never bothered with their names—said.

Zuko knelt and she glared through her tangle of hair into his eyes. "I see your face is as ugly as ever, Zuzu."

"Azula. I'm glad to see you're doing well."

She laughed in his face. "No you're not. We both know you'd rather I was dead. How's being firelord going? You found mom yet?"

It was worth her discomfort of the sudden shot of pain she saw before Zuko stood and walked out. Two men in white coats escorted her back to her cell, where she was released from her chains. Growling, she threw two fruitless lightning balls at the wall and let out a frustrated scream.

"Now now, losing our temper, are we?"

She turned suddenly. A man in a suit leaned against the wall, studying her with oddly deep eyes. His hand was beating a rhythm into the wall behind him.

"Who are you?" she demanded, her eyes taking in his odd clothing and his casual stance.

"I could be a friend, if you want me too. A very good friend. But a friendship is a two-way street built on helping each other. Tell me," he took a few steps towards her, "how long have you been here?"

Azula looked passed him, to the calendar she was carving into the wall. Surely he had seen it?

He turned, following her gaze. "Looks like something to the order of almost ten years."

She nodded. "What do you want?"

"I want you." He turned with an infuriating smile. "You, with all your cunning, all your brilliance, all your cold calculation. Not to mention that fireball trick. Very impressive."

"What's in it for me?" she asked, stepping closer.

"What's in it for you?" he smiled and closed the distance, close enough that her chest was only inches from his. "A chance to see so much more than these four walls. A chance to become greater than anyone on your planet ever has been. A chance to see things you've never imagined. Well, what do you say?"

Azula looked up at him, into eyes that spoke of wonders, and years, and other unspeakable things. "What's the plan for getting me out of her?" she asked.

"I'm glad you asked." He turned away. "I'm the Master, by the way."

"Azula." She followed him to the door.

He sent her a crazy smile before knocking. The guard opened the door and he slid out. There were some thuds, then he opened the door again.

"Are you coming, lovely?" he asked.

Azula took his offered hand and let him lead her through the door. "Do you have a plan for getting us out of here?"

"I've thought everything through, lovely. Though I must point out that the plan's success depends on your, shall we say, special talents? Are you up for it?"

Azula's smile split her face nearly in half. "More than." Lightning crackled in her fists. The Master matched her smile and led the way. Every guard they met fell under a storm of flashing blue before they could even sound the alarm. Within only a few minutes, the sun was touching her face for the first time since her brother had bested her in an agni-ki. She stopped a minute, closing her eyes and feeling the warmth on her face.

"Now it's my turn." The Master took her hand and pulled her away from the prison. A shout rang out above them and a fire ball hit the courtyard. Azula turned and kicked upward, blowing a bit of balcony away.

"Come on!" He tugged urgently on her arm and pulled her out of the gate, leaving the sound of a booming bell behind. Turning, he aimed something Azula didn't recognize at the gate, and the metal palisade came crashing down. He gave her a mad smile and they raced off into the woods.

* * *

><p>"My lady?" Azula was shocked from her memories. The servant stood barely within the door. "The Master sent me to tell you to join him at dinner."<p>

She looked around the room—so odd in the simplicity of its decorations. She'd talk to the Master about increasing the luxury of it.

"Tell him I'm not a dog to be summoned at his whim," she told the servant, crossing her arms and staring moodily at a painting on the wall.

"Yes, my lady." The servant left quickly.

She leaned back on the couch and waited. The Master himself arrived within just a few minutes, his brows pulled together in an ugly frown.

"Why didn't you come?"

"I am not your pet," Azula informed him, carefully emphasizing each word. "I will not be summoned like one."

"That's the problem?" The Master sat on the table she was resting her feet on. "That's what this is all about?"

Azula nodded.

"Well, let's see if we can fix this." He rubbed his mouth thoughtfully. "My lady Azula, would you do the honor of joining me for dinner?"

Azula smiled and stood, offering him her hand. "Gladly." Her anger still burned as he guided her to the dining room. She was making plans even as he regaled her with tales of previous adventures, fighting someone called 'the Doctor.' _What's with these people and their 'the's?_ she wondered.

The first thing she did was call the captain of security's second in command to her rooms. Bending him to her will was simple, and soon she had the first step of her plan in place.


	3. Chapter 3

Ironically, the Master was having a similar meeting in his own rooms with the captain of security.

"Forgive me, sir, but you did bring her on board."

The Master sighed angrily. "How she came to be on board is insignificant, captain. What matters is that she is onboard, and I don't trust her. I need to have a plan in case she turns on me. That's why you're here."

The captain nodded. The Master had already replaced most of his crew with men he knew wouldn't turn on him. The trick would be to control in such a way that he could turn them on Azula if needed. These were the plans he laid, just as Azula was laying similar plans.

"So you're saying I couldn't just kill him?" she was asking the second in command of security. "He'd just...what's the word?"

"Regenerate," the second in command offered. "Grow a new body. It's what time lords do."

"You know this for sure?" she stroked her chin thoughtfully, staring at the strange stars out of her lonely window.

"Decently sure."

"How?" She turned and fixed him with her golden eyes.

"A fellow told me about it. We had a good flirt and I got him drunk." The man seemed somewhat embarrassed.

"You...flirted? Never mind that," she shook her head, trying to get the image out of her head. "How did he know about it?"

"He'd traveled with one," the man explained.

"What was his name?" Azula asked.

"Whose, the man I met or the timelord's?"

"Both."

"The man was called Jack Harkness. The time lord was..." the lieutenant was staring into space as though trying to drag the name out of his memory. "The Doctor."

"The Doctor?" Azula asked. _That name again..._

"Yes, that's it, I'm sure of it."

Azula nodded slowly and looked back out the window. "You may go now, lieutenant."

The only sound of him leaving was the scrape of the door closing. Azula tapped her fingers together thoughtfully. It appeared that planning to bring the Master down would take more thought than she had originally planned.

* * *

><p>The Master watched her face as Azula set foot on her first strange planet. He'd chosen a safe landing place, not too far from where their men were working to subdue the native population. The expression on her face was one of wonder, and his hearts almost melted a little.<p>

"It's beautiful," she whispered, as though afraid of breaking the song of the insects that filled the clearing.

The Master looked around, and tried to see the world as she saw it; something new and so far from home. But he couldn't, he'd been on too many worlds. All he could think of was the thrill of the capture. He'd take what he needed from this world, then burn it in his wake. He looked around one more time. _It is pretty, _he thought, then set a hand on Azula's back and guided her through the forest towards the city. She jumped at every strange sound, and he realized she was restraining her flames.

The expression when they entered the city was even more enjoyable. She stared at the small architecture, designed for beings that reminded him of lemurs from earth. A few bodies were being cleared from the street as he led her through it. Several of the creatures were huddled together in the square.

Azula's face flickered as she looked them over. "What's going to happen to them?" she asked.

The Master shrugged. "What would you like done with them?" he asked.

Azula looked back at them. "If I asked you to, would you kill them?"

"Of course." The Master left her side and walked away. "If you wanted me to let them go, I would. If you wanted me to cut off their ears, or dress them up like clowns, it would be so."

Azula looked back at the creatures. "They're adorable," she said in a flat tone. "Surely there's people out there who would be willing to pay money for one?"

"That is a marvelous idea!" the Master smiled and grabbed her hands. "Oh Azula you are beautiful!" he kissed her cheek, pausing for a moment to save the softness of her skin.

When he pulled back she cracked her eyes open. "I want one."

"You do?"

"Yes. That one." She pointed to a smaller, mottled grey and white one.

The Master gave the order and the frightened creature was pulled away from the others as they were loaded into crates. The Master had a cord fastened around its neck, then handed it to Azula. She pulled the creature to her feet and knelt to looked at it closer.

It strained away. The Master could sense its begging it is own primitive tongue. These creatures were in the early stages of civilization, similar to ancient Egypt on earth.

Azula caught the creature's head in a grip that was supposed to be gentle. "I'm going to name it Ty Lee, after a friend of mine." She scowled at the word 'friend' and pushed the creature away. "A former friend, that is."

For a moment madness shown in her eyes, and she crushed the leash in her hands. The lemur-creature scampered to the end of its lead and strained to get away.

Azula yanked it back harshly. "You are not going to abandon me, not like your traitorous namesake. Understand?" She yelled at it.

The Master smiled and offered her his arm. She took it, and allowed him to walk her back to the ship.

* * *

><p>Azula stared at the lemur's hunched back. It refused to face her, instead hiding its face in the corner of its cage, shoulders shaking with either silent sobs or fear.<p>

Azula moved closer to the cage and set her fingers on it. "Ty Lee feared me," she whispered. "So did Mai. And they betrayed me. How does one get love, real love, and does that mean that the person who loves you will never leave?"

Her voice was gentler then it had been in years, and the lemur Ty Lee looked at her nervously over its shoulder.

Azula stood and walked away from the cage, chewing on her thumb nail. It was a habit she'd picked up in the asylum. She didn't realize she was doing it until blood pooled around the nail. Scowling, she pulled it out of her mouth and rested it on the table beside her.

She didn't think about how those two had stabbed her in the back: that was the first rule. Instead she thought about what she would do when she captured them. This drifted to her plans against the Master, and she carefully turned on the information knode. The Master had shown her how to work it, but she was somewhat frightened of its power. It was only with effort that she managed to search for 'time lord' and she quickly found that most of the information was folklore. Scowling angrily, she closed that search and tapped her fingers on her chin. Taking a deep breath, she typed in another search: the doctor. To her surprise the search filled up. She tapped a finger against her nose (another habit she'd picked up in the asylum) and began reading.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Authors note: Sorry it's been so long since an update. I had the wonderful experience of breaking my hard drive in half, and lost everything I had written, including this entire fanfiction. Needless to say, the entire experience was completely disheartening. I'm finally working on it again, but as school starts within the month, we'll see how long it takes to complete this.

ammendum: This chapter is probably not perfect. It's only been beta'd once, but I figured it was time for an update.

* * *

><p>Patience had never come easily to Azula. It was something she'd never really seen the use of before, not when she was the princess of the Fire nation and would demanded whatever she wanted, when she wanted it. But patience was what it was going to take to destroy the Master, and take his place as Captain of the ship. Thus she turned her attention to the Doctor, as an enemy of the Master, surely he could help her destroy him. A study of the Doctor's appearances made it clear she would never find him on her own. Instead, she used to knode to post a significant reward on his capture. Then, she was forced to wait. It was frustrating.<p>

The appearance of another planet on the scopes offered a respite from the waiting.

She joined the Master on the observation deck and watched the planet grow from a small dot to a large, vision consuming sphere. The Master slid his hand around her waist and leaning into her hair.

"You smell good," he informed her.

"Thank you," she replied, ordering her heart to stop fluttering.

"Long range scans, and the presence of rudimentary satellites indicate that we may be in for a fight with this planet," the Master murmured, his mouth so close to her ear that his breath tickled.

She shook him off. "Sounds as though we may have a good show ahead of us."

The Master laughed, "Indeed." He left her to the watching, offering an excuse of needing to monitor the fire control stations.

Azula picked her nails, as her ship launched two missiles, each destroy a satellite. Azula settled into her favorite firebending stance and grabbed the fire in the explosion. It didn't want to burn in the vacuum of space, but Azula refused to let in die, instead she tossed it at the planet. As it flew away from her it became harder and harder to control. She lost it when it hit the atmosphere, and with nothing to fuel it, the flame burned out.

Azula turned away, no longer interested since realizing her power wasn't enough. Her feet, exhausted from the effort of firebending in space, carried her back to her room, where her pet lemur waited.

Azula was trying to be gentle with the creature, but it was hard. Nonetheless, it seemed to be working; Ty Lee no longer hid from her, and would even allow Azula to hold her, though she trembled the entire time. Azula opened her cage and lifted her own, holding the small, warm body close to her own. The avatar had had a lemur, she recalled, quite similar to this one. A beeping noise called her attention to her knode, and she set Ty Lee on her desk, where the lemur began to worry one of the loose bolts, as she always did. Azula found to messages for her, one from someone called Dalek Phi, who wanted to know why she was searching for the Doctor, and would she consider selling him to them once she was finished with him. Azula duly ignored it for the message from one Doctor Ellio, who claimed to have a serum that would render regeneration impossible. Azula was making arrangements to smuggle him aboard when the ship shook. Ty Lee leapt and started shrieking. She was shaking too, and pushed her way into Azula's arms. Azula gathered her close, feeling the violent tremor of the smaller body. She grabbed the lemur's leash and attached it to Ty Lee's collar before hurrying to the bridge.

* * *

><p><em>This is more like it<em>, the Master reflected, as the planet launched another nuclear warhead at them. He'd allowed the last one to hit the ship's shield, offering the planet the illusion of power. It was risky though, a reasonably solid bowl of pudding could push through the shields (absent bowl). But this next missile would not be making it through. He was vaguely aware of the door opening as he took aim. The missile exploded, and flame consumed his view in the range finder, he waited for it to clear. But it didn't, instead, it streaked backwards the planet, exploding the following missile in the atmosphere. The Master laughed out loud: the fall-out from that would render half the continent below it radioactive. He turned to were Azula stood, a smirk on her face. By any god, she was beautiful, especially now, glowing with the power of firebender.

"If we were closer to the planet, I could rain down fire," she told him. Grinning like the mad-man he was, the Master left his post to another and led her down to the airlock. A quick manipulation of the controls and a few touched from his laser screwdriver set up a force field that would allow the passage of energy, but not matter, into space. He stood beside Azula, holding the leash of her pet as she gathered her strength. Tossing an equally wild smile over her shoulder, she released a gush of lightning down, igniting a second missile. The lightning continued downward, striking the surface of the planet before the shockwave from the missile. Azula laughed—she was far more beautiful when she did that then when Mrs. Saxon had ever been—and threw another bolt downward. For almost half an hour she stood in the airlock, tossing flame after lightning bolt to the planet. The creature she'd taken in stared in frightened awe. When his first mate called him, the creature ran as close to Azula as its leash would allow and tugged on her skirt. Azula stopped; sweat streaking down her face, her body visibly weakened by the effort.

"Master, we've received official notices of surrender from all the major powers but one."

"Destroy it," the Master ordered.

"Master?"

"Destroy the one that resists, as a lesson to the others."

"Yes, Master."

The ship shuddered as it released it true arsenal. Seven streaks headed towards the planet. The Master stepped up behind Azula and supported her as she leaned against him.

"Shall we burn it?" she asked.

"Pillage, then burn," he reminded her, sliding one armup under her shoulders, and bending to use his other to sweep her into his arms. Exhausted, she didn't resist as he carried her back to her room. Laying her on her couch, he sat next to her. She was covered in sweat, and her hair had come undone from its tight bun. He brushed it back, then leaned over and kissed her. She didn't resist, in fact her mouth opened and welcomed his tongue. Shifted his weight, the Master pushed her gently down onto the couch, deepening his kiss. Her crazy gold eyes were closed, and she brought one hand up to grab the back of his neck, the other she rested on his chest. He moved his hands, running them down her chest, feeling her small breasts, then as she moaned under him he grabbed hold of her shirt with both hands and ripped it open. She gasped, and he smiled down at her before moving his lips to her neck and down her chest. She was trying to say something, so the Master placed his lips over hers again. But she resisted him this time, and he allowed her to shove him off. She was gasping, an expression of confusion on her face. The slight parting of her lips told him he had succeeded in exciting her, at the very least.

"Wha-?" she started to ask. The Master silenced her with another quick kiss on her lips and walked out. He wasn't in the mood to talk about what had just happened. Taking the long way back to his corridors, he used the opportunity to calm his body and mind down. He'd moved too quickly, clearly. She was young, so young perhaps that she'd never slept with anyone before. The Master pondered this thoughtfully. If she was, it was possible that sex had never been explained to her. That was a disturbing idea, having to explain the mechanics of it to her. The Master preferred his women to know the basic steps before he had them, as Mrs. Saxon had.

The Master scowled to himself: this was the second time he'd thought of her today. He must stop that. She was gone, whether dead of simply removed from his life she was gone, and he really had no desire to bring her back. She hadn't understood him; she'd only been a front, chosen to continue his illusion of normalcy. Still, her betrayal hurt just a bit. He dismissed her from his thoughts, thinking instead of Azula and compact body, and how it felt beneath him. He needed her, he realized. He needed more than a means to an end. She understood him; she knew what it was like to stare madness in the face and laugh with it. All of a sudden the drums returned, forcing him to stop in his steps and grip the wall for support. He realized then that he hadn't heard them, not from the moment she'd set foot on the bridge and sent him that insane, beautiful, madly perfect smirk. In that moment, the Master decided that he would have her. If he had to take it slow, if he had to explain every step to her, he would make her his. He had to.

* * *

><p>Author's Note (the 3rd): "Pillage, THEN burn" is one of the <em>The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries<em> from Schlock Mercenary, an awesome original Sci-Fi web comic. I'd recommend checking them out!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Despite the effort she had put forth, Azula did not sleep that night. Instead she paced her room, trying to sort through the maze of emotions that were galloping through her chest. What the Master had done to her was definitely exciting, and she felt a strange feeling in parts of her body she hadn't known could tingle. She wondered if this was the sex that Ty Lee—the real Ty Lee, not the lemur that was curled up on her bed—had giggled about. She found herself wishing the Master had not left so quickly, that she could command him to come back, to explain what he had done, to persuade him to do it again. But the Master could not be commanded, and she hated him for it. As much as she enjoyed what he had done to her, she hated him for the power he had taken from her, when he pushed her down on the couch. She sent an angry bust of flame into the offending piece of furniture, and watched it burn before the fire suppression system kicked in and doused it. With an angry scowl she kicked one of the displaced cushions. But that was not satisfying. She turned to the bed. With a look she sent Ty Lee scurrying back into her cage, before she proceeded to shred it, ripping open pillows and dropping their contents on the floor. Tearing her sheets, using her long nail to tear even into the mattress itself, she did not stop until she was panting for breath. The bed was destroyed, and the couch covered in the chemicals used to douse her flame, so she sat at her desk while her servants came and began to recover the mess she'd made. Azula watched them, wondering what it was like to serve another, and decided that she would hate it.

"It's all his fault," she said allowed, surprising the girls who were navigating a new mattress in through the door. "My brother, the traitor. No...The Avatar, the puppeteer who controlled him. It's all his fault that I'm here. I should be Fire Lord of the Fire Nation!" She shouted, throwing a heavy ball of something at the nearest girl. "He took it from me! They both did!" The servants fled, one of then supporting the other as Azula set fire to the new mattress, this time maintaining the flame against the systems.

The servants wouldn't enter the room again. No matter how Azula screamed at them and threatened to destroy them. She considered calling the Master, but then remembered he was the one she was angry with in the first place. Finally she stormed out, taking her confusion and anger to the main corridors of the ship. Somehow word had gotten out to the crew about her anger, and everyone seemed to be avoiding her. She didn't mind, at first. But loneliness began to build up in her, and she found herself fighting the urge to chase down a crewman and...do what exactly? Cry? Rip her hair out? Rip his hair out? She honestly didn't know. She avoided the Master's end of the ship; instead she stuck to the levels she knew he didn't frequent. When the ship's lights shifted to day cycle, she was still pacing the corridors, kicking at the stupid rug that covered the floor. Only when she began to stumble from exhaustion did she return to her room, which had been returned to its natural state, and collapse on her bed.

Oh, groveling. The Master loved this stage of conquering. When the little people on the planet below realized how helpless they were, and begged him not to destroy them, to let them be in peace, we are a peaceful people, blah blah blah. The Master could not keep the grin off his face throughout the process. He especially loved how his facial expression seemed to add nothing to the representative's comfort. This, this was the life a Time Lord was meant to live. Victorious, lord of all he saw. He listened to their petitions with rapt interest, laughing to himself at their pathetic attempts to buy him off. Did they not understand that nothing would mollify him but their complete submission?

Finally the chosen representatives ran out of things to offer him, and the room fell silent. After this silence had stretched for the longest possible time, the Master rose slowly to his feet, resting his fingertips on the shining black table top.

"I don't think you understand my purpose here, representatives. There is no misunderstanding. I do not want your natural resources, your industry, your power sources. Nor I do not want your water, your animals, or a selection of your people. I want your planet under my heel. I want everyone on your planet to know that I, I am the Master, and you all belong to me."

This was met with sufficiently shocked silence, so the Master called a recess by walking out. He rubbed his hands together and laughed to himself as his steps took him to the top of the building that was being used for their meeting. He could see what was left of the city below him. Here they had escaped the worst of his wrath. But there was still beautiful damage everywhere he looked. The concussive force of his battery of the planet had caused earthquakes planet-wide, and here there were buildings collapsed throughout the city. He could see a make-shift tent village outside the city limits. Beautiful, beautiful chaos. He leaned on the edge.

"Now where are you?" he asked softly. "I'm doing this just for you, so show yourself." The pounding in his head was building. He rubbed his temples, and laughed. Everything hurt, and it all was beautiful.

_On the edge of the city, inside a half-collapsed building, a strange sound, describable only as a vworp-vworp was masked by the sounds of a shattered people trying to recover themselves. A blue box appeared, one familiar throughout the galaxy. A figure stepped out, hands tucked in trench coat pockets. Brown eyes surveyed the damage, and scowl split them. He walked through the damage, anger at what he saw filling him more and more._

And the Master rejoiced. He had come.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A/N: there will not be an Azula POV this chapter. In case anyone wants to know what she does while this happening, she's still in her room, sulking and lighting things on fire.

Also, thank you to all those who've favorite and commented on this story. I'm sorry it's so long between updates, and thank you for being so awesomely patient!

It took another day, but finally the announcement went out, planet-wide. _You are no longer free. You belong to the Master. _Citizens were ordered to report to city centers to receive a microchip that would track their movements. Resistance led to death. The Master stood on top of his building, watching the people below him slowly file through and inhaling their suffering. This, this was so much sweeter than any pleasure the flesh could offer. He wished that Azula was beside him, but reports from the ship showed her to be in the middle of an emotional outburst that had drained most of the power from the fire suppression systems on the ship. The Master realized with a scowl that it hurt him that she wasn't here to enjoy the triumph with him. He'd have to make it up to her; it shouldn't be too hard to find something that would bring her out of her current black mood.

He looked down, suddenly, sensing—almost smelling—another time lord. There: the flash of a brown coat through the crowd. Untidy hair taking its place in the queue. The Master laughed and jumped up and down. Then he took a deep breath. He couldn't lose his calm, not now, not with him so close. He couldn't resist another giggle, and hurried back out of a sight. Long legs carried him down the stairs to right above the processing center.

"That one, him," he ordered the quiet technician. "Bookmark him. I want to personally know where he is." Having given his orders, the Master ran to his office and set the security cameras so he could watch the other make his way into the center.

The tracking chips were something the Master was particularly proud of. Little marvels of engineering that were resistant to all tweaking by a sonic screwdriver, covered with a somewhat less marvelous piece of engineering that was tweakable by sonic. When the Other turned his sonic on the device, the outer shell would deactivate, and he would think that he had completely shut it down. The Master laughed at his own brilliance.

He watched the messy hair leave the processing center on one of the monitors, biting his thumb to stop himself from leaping in triumph. This was too good, too perfect; it was Christmas.

Returning to his plush apartments on top of the last standing skyscraper, he activated the monitoring on the other time lord. There was the blip that was the sonic trying to deactivate his chip. It looked like he was in hiding in the other side of the city. What was he planning? Was he going to try and stop the Master? Perhaps he'd found a rebel encampment! The Master pulled a bag of candies from where it was hidden in his couch and popped two in his mouth. He touched the intercom to order the arrest, but stopped.

"I must be patient," he told himself. "You need this to work." There was no point in arresting the other time lord before he could finish his plan. If what he was doing was working with an underground rebel force, it would benefit the Master to wait until as many ducks were in a row as possible. That meant being patient. He hated being patient.

He only managed to wait a day before ordering his men to make the arrest. It took all his patience, and the pounding in his head had become a physical pain that drove him to thinking about leaping from the roof of his building, it was so loud.

Once he ordered the strike, however, the pounding didn't fade and he paced his rooms, feeling caged and trapped, just as the time lord would be soon. The first call he received was the recovery of the TARDIS, the next was the discovery of a rebel campus. There was heavy fire.

Closing his eyes, the Master could hear the Other shouting for the firing to stop, that there was a solution. He could see desperation in the brown eyes as bodies of people he'd been working with, plotting with, fell around him. He wasn't surprised when the call came that the Doctor had surrendered.

If his patience hadn't lasted to give the order, he was beside himself while waiting for the captive to be brought to him. He thought of Azula, and he considered asking her to come to him. But she was still angry, and he knew she wouldn't come. He'd come to miss her fire, her laughter. He'd almost apologized more than once, almost begged her to forgive him for whatever angered her. He'd also considered having her dragged down to the planet, and forcing her to take him back, to take him at all. But that was not the way to a woman's heart, he was sure of that. That was something he'd learned from his previous wife. No, he needed a gift for her, something special, something from the heart.

His thinking was interrupted by the return of the arrest team. He closed his eyes, willing the pounding to cease, and straightened his jacket. It was time to reveal himself to his enemy— the enemy who was practically a friend, considering how long they had rivaled each other.


	7. Chapter 7

To anyone bothering to come back after so long, I submit the most humblest of apologies. Seriously, I am very very sorry. I can only say that college happened. Don't worry, the next chapter is in the works.

* * *

><p>Azula was coming to the end of her sulk. She'd been in a state of constant anger for at least six days as she waited for the Master to return. But he hadn't in the heat of her anger, nor the afterglow. Now she was just tired, and wanted him to come back so she could hear his voice again. When the call of the Master boarding came through the speakers of the ship, she had to force herself not to run to the docking bay. Instead, she walked down to meet him in their lounge, trying to sum up the anger he'd woken in her. But she couldn't seem to. All she could think about was how much she'd missed his smile, and the way his hands seemed to dance that gods-dammed rhythm he loved so much.<p>

She was staring at the planet below them when he entered.

"Well, hello beautiful." His voice melted what was left of the ice in her and she fought the urge to turn around.

"You've been gone a while," she said, trying to hide the smile that was plastering itself obnoxiously across her face.

"Enslaving an entire civilization takes time, you know," he replied. She heard a strange sound, like a scuffle, that ended with a half-muffled cry of pain.

"Considering our last parting, I brought you a gift."

The mention on their last parting what she needed to clear her face, and Azula turned with her customary frown between her eyebrows.

The Master stood behind her, another man kneeling at his feet. His arms were pulled behind him at up, such that he was forced to bend forward while the Master held the strap that bound his wrists. Another strap covered his mouth, but the glare in his brown eyes said everything Azula needed to hear.

She looked back up at the Master in confusion.

"This, is my oldest enemy, the Doctor," he said, tugging the other man's wrists higher and forcing him to lean forward more. "I was going to kill him. Then kill him again. Then torture him a bit before killing him until he finally died, but I got to thinking about you. How beautiful you are when you burn things. And I thought to myself, perhaps Azula will want to have a go at him. So here," he kicked the Doctor onto his side. "This man belongs to you."

Azula smiled to hide her own confusion. "Well, this may be fun." Grabbing the Doctor by his spiky brown hair, she pulled him upright and onto his knees again. He continued to glare at her over the gag.

"He's a handsome one," she remarked, touching his cheekbone. He jerked his face away and muttered something through his gag.

The Master's hands slid around her waist. "Handsome, maybe, but not the handsomest in the room."

"That's not for certain yet," she replied, biting her lip as the Master's nose brushed her hair and he breathed deeply on her neck.

"You smell divine," he murmured.

"Stop it," she replied, though she didn't want him to.

He stopped smelling her neck, but his arms continued to pin her back against his body.

"Do you have something to say, Doctor?" he asked teasingly.

Azula remembered her present, which was staring at both of them with a look of confusion.

The Master released her with one arm, and unfastened the strap across the other's mouth.

"Isn't she a bit young for you?" the Doctor asked.

The Master shrugged. "Last one I saw you with was too young for you. Why should you have all the fun?" He wrapped Azula completely in his arms again and she couldn't help but smile as she leaned back against him. "Her name is Azula, of the Fire Nation." The Master's lips brushed her shoulder and she shuddered involuntarily. "And now you are hers. Take him to the detention level to wait her pleasure," he ordered the guards who'd been standing back by the door.

When they were alone again he pulled away from her. "Oh! I almost forgot! The Doctor isn't complete without this." He handed her a silver tube, with a blue light on one end.

"What is it?" she asked, turning it her hands and covering her disappointment that his arms were no longer around her.

"His Sonic Screwdriver. It's how he gets out of jams like this one. Only he doesn't have it!" The Master laughed in that idiot way Azula had missed so much. Impulsively she grabbed his face and kissed him on the lips. His mouth was hot, and his arms twined themselves around her shoulders and pressed her breasts to his. She felt a surge of triumph as, when he tried to deepen the kiss, she pulled away, but didn't end it. The kiss continued on her terms: when he tried to pull back she held his hair so he couldn't. When finally she let him go, they both were red faced and out of breath.

"I missed you," she said, then walked out of the lounge without another word.

* * *

><p>The Master was in shock. Though he wasn't sure which was more shocking: the actual kiss (which had been amazing) or the fact that he had no idea how to respond to it. Either way, he felt like a cloud. It was a wonderful feeling.<p>

Finally his feet came back down to earth and he found himself perched on the arm of a couch, staring at a spot on the wall. Shaking himself, he left the lounge and summoned for his chief of security to meet him in his quarters.


	8. Chapter 8

"What do you mean you don't know what she's done the last six days?"" the Master demanded.

"I'm sorry, Master, she's been in her room, all by herself this entire time. She only emerged in the last forty-eight hours, and has been intentionally avoiding everyone." The office smelled of the security officer's fear.

"What about the security camera in her room?" The Master steepled his fingers, resisting the urge to tap them together in that maddening rhythm that was pounding inside his head.

"She melted them, sir." The security officer looked sufficiently embarrassed, so the Master waved him out angrily. He pounded his fingers on the table. For a moment, he regretted handing his greatest enemy over to Azula to torment, as it left no one for him. He sighed and blew out his cheeks. A message appeared on the screen of his computer. It was from his troops on the planet below.

_Search has uncovered blue box, apparently made of wood, that fits description. Item has been secured and is being delivered to designated location. _

The Master folded his hands and tapped them against his lower lip thoughtfully. He was growing tired. Tired of time continuing in the same direction. It was time to go backward. This was an opportunity, then, to investigate Azula's past. He smiled, and made his decision. Standing, he grabbed a sonic blaster and tucked it into his pocket while hurrying out the door.

* * *

><p>Azula's heart was pounding. She wondered fearfully if the Master had any hint of just how excited she was. The Doctor—his nemesis, who must know how to break the Master—was waiting for her on the other side of the door, waiting for her in the holding cell. The moment she had received word that the Master had left the ship, she'd hurried down to the cell, excitement making her feet fly through the corridors.<p>

The security guard outside explained to her that the Doctor had been strapped into some sort of fancy chair, which would allow her to inflict any sort of torture she wished.

Devilishly pleased, she entered the holding cell. The Doctor watched her approach with sharp eyes, tension set in his jaw and forehead.

"I can't figure you out," he said, interrupting Azula's gathering of thoughts.

"What?" She snapped, trying to gather herself for something wittier.

"You clearly know the Master quite well, yet I've never seen you before—what are you, exactly?"

As Azula stared in shock, the Doctor kept talking. "I mean obviously you are not a Time Lord, but obviously he is more than infatuated with you. Are you two lovers? It is hard to imagine the Master I know shtupping with someone who is of a lesser species."

Azula gave up holding her anger in check, and blasted a lightning bolt within inches of the Doctor's head. He flinched, as much as his bonds could allow. Finally, he was silent.

"Now I can think," Azula said aloud, walking over to the stool that would place her at the controls of the chair. She and the Doctor stared at each other over the console.

He took a slow breath. "How old are you, exactly?" he asked, the edge absent from his voice.

"I don't know. I stopped counting when my brother threw me in prison." Maybe it was the sudden softness in his tone that made Azula answer him.

The Doctor looked at her with something…was that pity? Anger stirred in her chest again, and she punched a control.

When the Doctor finished his pained howl, she stood, drawing his dark eyes to her.

"I do not want your pity," she snarled. "My brother was a traitor, and someday soon I will return to punish him."

The Doctor stared at her, and she could sense his mind working.

Azula sat as gently as she could. "You truly think us lovers?"

"I have seen the Master kiss before, never with that much…love."

The word washed over Azula like a rush of hot air from the fires around her father's throne. "Love?" she repeated, unaware that she spoke aloud.

They were both silent for a long moment.

"You didn't know that?" The Doctor asked gently.

Azula looked to him sharply, and jerked a hand to the controls, but stopped before pressing a button. The Doctor flinched anyway.

She stood so she could lean on the edge of the console. "The Master loves nothing, only power."

"And you are power, are you not?" the Doctor asked, his voice once again gentle. "But I do not think that is the only reason he loves you."

"The Master does not love me," Azula repeated, putting more force into her voice, trying to quench the warmth that was growing in her chest. "No one loves me," she stood and began pacing from habit. "My brother took all the love I should have been given."

"Has the Master ever met your brother?" the Doctor asked.

"No," Azula said.

"Then how could your brother have stolen his love?"

Azula stopped her pacing to stare. What she was staring at happened to be a blank wall, but she wasn't aware of it.

The Doctor's voice broke her from her thoughts. She blinked, turning her head slowly to look at him. The Doctor spoke again, his voice something like a lifeline in her spinning world.

She blinked again and shook her head hard to clear it. Shaking didn't work, so she turned slowly to the Doctor. His words finally formed into something that made sense in her mind.

"You really didn't know?" he said.

"Didn't know what?" she asked.

"That he loved you."

"What do you mean?" Azula pulled the stool around the control panel and sat next to the Doctor, staring at his face as though it had the answers the wall didn't.

"You know, love, the 'let's walk places together holdings hands and eat together and promise each other that we'll be together forever' thing that seems popular." There was a fine layer of hurt under the Doctor's words, but Azula ignored it.

"Is that…is that what love is?" she asked, her voice coming from somewhere far away.

The Doctor was staring at her, that look of pity on his face again, but now it didn't cut Azula to the bone.

"You don't know what love is?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Azula shook her head, the warmth building in her body. "Tell me," she said. "Do you know…have you ever been loved?"

The Doctor nodded as much as his bonds would allow. "I have. Love is…Love is more than the songs and stories say. They say it's fire and ice in your heart, and madness in your brain. But love is more, so much more. Fire burns out, ice melts, and madness fades. Love has its low moments, moments when breathing the same air as another is agony. It's quiet moments. It is building something with another."

Azula had sat still through this entire speech, allowing the words to pierce her soul and settle deep into her chest.

"And you think the Master feels so for me?" she asked, after this new idea had distilled itself inside her.

"I believe he does," the Doctor said.

"Do you believe that I love him?" she asked.

The Doctor was silent for a moment. "I cannot speak for your heart, but I…I believe that you do."

Azula pondered this, and realized that she agreed.

"Tell me more of love," she ordered, leaning forward.


	9. Chapter 9

The Tardis landed with its usual scream of breaks. The Master leaned on the controls a moment, pondering what exactly he hoped to gain from seeing Azula's childhood. Was he going to imprint himself upon her as a baby bird?

Angry at his own uncertainty, the Master struck the dashboard of the issued an angry hiss at him. He hissed back, but he did not strike again.

Instead, he frowned before crossing the control room to the door. The glass was frosted over, blocking his view of whatever was outside. He opened the door slowly, finding a stone corridor.

Squaring his shoulders, he stepped out, raising a cloud of dust. Nodding approvingly, he started off down the corridor. The hallway led to another corridor, and another, each showing a bit more use than the last. The Master paused at each union, to mark its location in his mind.

He began to pass a few servants, but none he considered it worth his time to hide from. Eventually, he found himself on the edge of a garden, where the voices of children beckoned him onto the soft grass. The Master approached slowly, slipping into the hiding branches of a carefully sculpted hedge.

Two girls were talking together: one perched delicately on her hands with her feet in the air, the other sitting leaned against a tree. The Master watched them both, trying to determine which one was Azula.

The pink robes of the upside down one were too garish, but the dark robes of the seated one were too plain. Perhaps neither of them was Azula after all.

There were the sharp voices of men, and the two girls fled from the garden as casually as they could.

A man entered, tall and proud, with Azula's sharp bones and flaming eyes. He tossed aside his outer robe and began to move through what the Master assumed were forms of fire-bending.

A few attendants placed themselves around, their backs at ramrod straight attention. The Master watched them, impressed by the fearful obedience he saw hidden under their still faces. Clearly this man—there was no doubt now it was Azula's father—commanded much loyalty from his servants.

"Where is my daughter?" Azula's father demanded suddenly.

"She is on her way, my lord prince. Her mother was still talking with her when your messenger returned." One of the attendants stepped forward to explain, then stepped back into place.

Azula's father nodded, then returned to practicing.

The Master settled himself more comfortably in the hedge. Watching the Prince was an exercise in the perfection of the male form, and rather than be impatient, the Master chose to enjoy it.

Finally the raised voice of a young woman came his attention, berating a servant for blocking her path. The prince stopped, and looked towards one of the other entrances to the palace. A girl the same age as the two he'd seen in the garden before. She stalked out onto the lawn, tossing aside her outer tunic in an angry motion.

"You're upset," the prince said.

"Mother," Azula replied curtly, settling herself into a fire-bending stance. No words were exchanged; instead they engaged in a dance of fire and blows, carefully calculated to merely skim one another, not harm them. It was clear as they fought that this younger version of Azula was less skilled than his own Azula, but the fire in her hands reflected the fire that the Master could feel burning under her skin when he held her.

She was angry, and this showed in her blows as they grew sloppy. Finally the prince—who by now the Master had decided must be her father—called a halt to the match.

"You're letting your passion rule you, Azula," he said in a voice so cool that it conflicted with the heat of his fire.

"It's nothing, father," Azula said, her own voice heated with pain.

"Clearly not. You are allowing your own emotions to cloud your mind." Her father stood with all the calm that fire usually lacked.

"Fire-bending comes from passion! So you have always told me!" Azula cried, sending an angry ball of fire to steam in the small duck pond.

"Yes it comes from passion, but controlled passion. Not this madness that you've given yourself to. You must channel your anger, and harness it." The prince created a ball of flame above his palm, and as he spoke it changed from the warm yellow of a hearth fire to the angry blue of a young sun. "It is only through great emotional control, and skillfully channeling this emotion, that the greatest fire-bending can be unleashed." The blue flame leapt from his hand, arching itself through the air in a streak of blue lightning. It struck a sapling, causing its bark to explode with its own thunder clap.

"Teach me how to bend lightning, father!" Azula said, half commanding, half begging.

For the first time since he'd been watching, her father smiled. He drew her close, and spoke in a soft voice that didn't carry to the Master's straining ears.

The Master shifted nervously in the hedge. The longer he sat there, the more impatient he got, and it was clear that Azula's father was explaining something of great importance to her, and there was no safe way for him to get close enough to hear it. He let out a frustrated breath.

"Did you hear something?" one of the guards standing nearby asked another.

The Master froze.

The two guards moved closer to the hedge, and one poked it with the end of his spear.

The Master settled into a crouch, gather his muscles for the leap.

A shout was heard when he leapt out of hiding. Azula and her father turned, but not soon enough to stop the Master from barreling into both of them. He grappled with Azula a moment, ripping the jeweled comb from her hair and fleeing across the garden. Flames heated his heels. Foliage sizzled around him. A laugh leapt from his lips as he ran. There was no opportunity to hide, nor to lead his pursuers anywhere but back to the Tardis. So he didn't bother, instead focusing his attention on sensing and avoiding the many fireballs that sizzled around him. He was so focused on the feeling of the oncoming fire, that he almost didn't recognize the lightning. It was fortune that it missed him, and he paused in his running to see Azula's twisted face, and the pride that flashed briefly across her father's.

More and more guards followed the Master as he bolted through the marked hallways. It was close, and he barely made it to the Tardis in time. It's wooden walls had begun to smolder as he commanded it to take him back to his new empire.

He was still laughing as the ship twisted through the space-time continuum. Gods, she was so beautiful.

"I love her," he said aloud, the words falling unbidden from his lips. Even as he said them for the first time he realized how true the words were. He did love her, more than he had ever loved anyone or anything.

She was fire in human form, and he loved her.

He wondered if she loved him.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: POV will switch between them for this chapter. Also, this is the sex, so if for some reason you've been reading this fanfic and don't want to read about sex, just skip to the next chapter

Azula's thoughts were still racing, following her conversation with her captive, and its implications.

The Master was drunk with the power he'd witnessed.

They met each other in the corridor outside of his room.

Eyes met and they stared at each other for a long moment, each seeing the other as though for the first time. Neither spoke for a long moment, then the Master cleared his throat.

Unwilling to give him the right to speak first, Azula stopped him. "It has recently come to my attention, that I might…" she trailed off, unable to put the bubble of feeling she had for him into simple words.

The Master nodded as though he understood what she could not say. "To me, you are the most perfect creature I have ever met," he said slowly, leaning against the wall.

Azula's brown eyes didn't leave his. Some sort of feeling flickered between, and suddenly she found she knew the words to say. "I love you."

"I love you," the Master replied.

They stared a moment. Azula wondered when the Master was going to look away, to tell her that he was lying, that he didn't love her. The Master was waiting for Azula to take advantage of his weakness and attack. Neither of these things happened, so they stared. Slowly gravity pulled them together, and their lips touched. It started as a soft kiss, the gentle kiss of new lovers; but Azula grabbed the Master's neck and pulled his face tighter to her own, deepening the kiss so he couldn't pull away, couldn't run away like everyone else. She was distantly aware of his hands sliding up her back and pressing her body against his. She could feel his pulse pounding under her fingertips. Her fingers slid up into his short hair, and she scraped her nails gently across his scalp. She felt a shift underneath her fingers and he pulled away, setting a slender hand on her chin to break the kiss. She pressed more urgently against him, afraid that he was leaving her, that this kiss was a goodbye.

The Master took a deep breath, feeling her small body in his arms. He needed her like he'd never needed anything before. He could feel her heart pound between his own hearts. But he could also hear footsteps coming along the corridor.

"Come on," he said, his voice heavy. But it was Azula who pulled him into his room, once again finding his lips. Now that the door was closed, the Master did nothing to stop her. Breaking suddenly, she shoved him back onto the couch. The Master collapsed unexpectedly and Azula's knees were suddenly on either side of his thighs, her face in his.

"Have you ever done this before?" he asked, suddenly curious.

"No," Azula replied, pausing.

"Then let me guide you," the Master grabbed her arms and threw her sideways. With a twist, he was the one pining her to the couch, his fingers already gripping the material of her shirt.

"I don't need a guide," Azula replied, putting her hands over his. The sound of her ripping her own shirt open was one of the most beautiful sounds he'd heard.

The Master's eyes roamed down her body as he quickly unbuttoned his own shirt and tossed it aside.

Azula felt the cool air hit her body, and wanted to cover herself. She hadn't exposed this much skin to anyone since Ember Island, the days before her friends betrayed her. But then the Master was also bare chested, more so in fact, as he did not wear the same undergarments as her. His hands were warm on her cool stomach, and they slid up to her breasts, sending sparks underneath her skin. Azula almost wanted him to stop, almost wanted to tell him not to do this, not if he was going to leave her. But then his teeth were on her bra and he pulled it away from her skin while sliding his hands up to grasp her breasts. The straps cut into her back and shoulders but Azula ignored it. His fingers were pinching lightly, a small shock of pain blending into a lightning bolt of pleasure. Azula sank her fingers into his hair and yanked his face up to her own for another long, hard kiss. His hands found the clasp on the back of her bra that was so confounding, and with almost annoying ease undid it. She used an arm to hide her breasts, but still yanked him closer. Annoyance flickered in her head, annoyance that he was getting such a reaction from her body. Surely this was a game that two could play.

The Master gasped when her hand suddenly grabbed his pants, clumsily but effectively bringing his member to attention. He hissed into her mouth and kissed her back harder, putting his own hands back to work on her breasts and smirking when he once again felt her arch underneath him. Her mouth escaped his and she ran the edge of her teeth down the side of his neck, a hesitant experiment that was met with a strangled sound of pleasure as she pressed her teeth harder. The Master jerked a hand away to press her back a bit, trying to stop her from having the same effect on him that he was having on her. But Azula merely flicked his hand away and continued her journey down to his collarbone. The Master knew he was going to be wearing the marks from this night; Badges of honor.

Azula felt him tremble slightly under her lips and hands, and smiled into the skin of his neck. She bit harder and he shuddered again. She hadn't expected it to be quite this easy. But then his fingers trailed down her stomach and into the area between her legs that no one had explored and she realized it was easy for him as well. Desperate to regain some control of the situation, Azula shoved him back onto the couch and sat straighter, removing herself from his touch. They stared at each other a minute, both gasping for breath. But Azula needed his touch, needed to know that he was here, and that he was here now. And maybe—maybe—he wasn't going to leave her alone in the darkness. She flung herself back down on top of him and bit into his neck. He gave a sobbing cry underneath her and his fingers found all the places they had before. It was strange, she'd heard of sex, knew it was a part of marriage. She'd never imagined it could be so much like victory and surrender.


	11. Chapter 11

When Azula woke, she had to take a moment and orient herself on the bed. It wasn't hers. It was far too soft. She pushed herself up on her elbows and looked down at the body curled away from her. His back was still bear, and she could see the angry scratch marks where she had dug her nails into him. When she shifted to get up she felt similar marks on her own back.

When she pushed herself to her feet, the movement of the soft shirt sent a flicker of pain across her nipples and she hunched her shoulders to lift the fabric away. He'd lent her the shirt to sleep in when he'd invited her to sleep in his bed. Underneath she only wore her lower undergarment, just as he did.

She found her clothing scattered around the room. Her shirt hadn't survived the night's activities however, and she tossed it in the trash bin. This one she was wearing now would have to do until she got back to her own rooms. The Master was still sleeping half on his stomach when Azula finished dressing. She held her hair back from her face and leaned over to look at him. He looked different. Younger. In a strange way he reminded her of Zuko.

Azula banished that comparison as quickly as it rose. Strange, but suddenly she knew that she had seen him before he had rescued her from prison. She leaned closer and set a gentle kiss on his forehead and stepped towards the door. He mumbled in his sleep, causing her to freeze with her hand on the knob. With a rustle of blankets he rolled onto his back, throwing an arm across the now cooling spot she had occupied. But he didn't wake up, so Azula slipped out into the corridor.

It was cooler than his room had been and she hugged herself. Thankfully, the corridor was empty. She hurried to her own rooms. As her hand hovered over the handle, a thought paralyzed her. She knew—somehow she knew—that if she went into the rooms now; she'd lose the Master. Her hand dropped back to her side and she stared at the doorway. She should never have left his bed. She should have set a fire in the door, and locked both of them in his rooms. This was a mistake, a total mistake. With a shriek, she flung a bolt of lightening at the wall. It burned an ugly black mark into the burnished metal. She punched that mark, and the pain in her fist joined the other pain throughout her body. Leaning forward, she set her forehead against the cool metal wall and stared down at the floor. She'd never really noticed the floor before. It was a rather harsh looking carpet that had once been red. She wasn't quite sure what color it was now, but the red showed through in places. Straightening, she turned her back to the scorch mark and leaned against the wall, staring into the corridor around her. She could hear footsteps down at the junction, a murmur of voices further down and to her left. The coolness of the wall permeated the soft shirt, cooling the scratches on her back. She rubbed her arms and a new pain emerged. She looked down, finding a red mark. She remembered his lips on her arm, and the slight pressure of his teeth. Setting her fingers over the spot she smiled at the memory. He wouldn't leave her; couldn't leave her. Surely marks like these were signs of his claim on her body. She lifted her arm to her lips and kissed the spot where his mouth had been pressed.

Pushing herself to her feet, she continued down the corridor, further away from the Master's room. She needed to speak with the Doctor.

* * *

><p>When the Master woke it took him a moment to realize there why it felt like there was an empty space in his bed. He lifted his head up and noted that Azula was nowhere to be found. Blowing out his lips, he sat up and rubbed the top of his head. She must have woken before him and slipped out. Slowly he pulled himself out of the warm cocoon of blankets and stretched upward. Aside from the general disarray, there was no indication that she had ever been in his rooms. Sighing, the Master stumbled over to his dresser and picked out clothing to wear. His eyes flickered over the room, settling on the scrap of bright fabric that was trailing out of his waste bin. Still bare-chested, he lifted the tattered shirt. It had cooled completely from her skin, but her scent still lingered. The Master resisted the urge to lift it to his face and inhale, however. Instead, he remembered how satisfying the sound of it ripping had been. Wadding the shirt up, he tossed it on the bed and finished dressing. He needed to find her, needed to know she was okay.<p>

Strange, he'd never needed to know that the other party was okay before. He'd had sex many times, but what he'd done with Azula was much more…intimate. As he reflected, he realized that the word he was looking for was making love. He'd never made love before.

He'd never had such difficulty tying a tie before. His hands were shaking. What if she hadn't enjoyed it? What if she hated him? He didn't know what he would do if she hated him. The hairpiece he had stolen from her younger version sparkled on the dressed and he tucked it into his pocket.

He gave up on the tie and stepped over to his computer unit. A few quick keystrokes and he learned she wasn't in her quarters. In fact, she hadn't been in her quarters since yesterday morning. He rubbed his cheek and realized with an unhappy grunt that he needed to shave.

But he needed to find Azula first.

Despite what the computer had told him, he went to her quarters anyway. Standing outside her door, he could sense that she had been there, almost like he could feel the heat that was always boiling under her skin. There was also the scorch mark on the wall. He set his fingertips against the mark. Lightning, definitely. And there was only one source of lightning on his ship. He stared at the mark a moment, tucking his hands in his pockets. So, she had been here. Where was she now?

The scream of the alarm system snapped him out of his revere.

"Prisoner escaping, prisoner escaping." The cold metallic voice declared dispassionately.

The Master swore and took off at a run towards the Doctor's containment room. There had only been one prisoner on his ship.

If the Doctor was free, he'd have only one goal: the Tardis. The Master changed direction quickly, charging instead towards the bay where the Tardis was held. His heart was pounding in his chest. How the hell had the Doctor gotten free? Was Azula…? No, the Doctor would never hurt Azula, it wasn't his style.

Was it?


	12. Chapter 12

The Master arrived at the bay doors just in time to have the Doctor close them in his face. Screaming, the Master pounded on the door but it wouldn't open. Soniced, no doubt. Pressing his ear against the cold metal doors, the Master could hear the Tardis'_ vworp-vworp_ faded as the ship vanished from its location in space-time. He sighed and rested his forehead against the sealed doors.

"Oh, Azula," he whispered.

Jerking upright, he punched the nearest intercom.

"Yessir?" asked the voice on the other end.

"Azula, where is she?" The Master demanded.

"One moment, sir," the voice said. "Corridor seventeen, headed towards her quarters."

So she was alright then. The Doctor hadn't harmed her. The Master let out a breath and hung up the intercom. He leaned against the wall a minute, letting it hold him up. He had lost the Doctor and the Tardis; and yet, the only emotion he could feel was relief that Azula was unharmed. He had to see her, had to catch her before she locked herself in her quarters. Still out of breath, he ran back down the corridor.

* * *

><p>Now she'd done it. She hadn't <em>meant<em> to let the Doctor go. Well, she had after they had talked, but that hadn't been why she'd gone to see him. She'd gone because he'd been so good at helping her sort out her emotions before. Perhaps, she had thought, he could help now. And he had helped, quite a bit. So much, in fact, that Azula had felt obligated to him. She hated feeling like she owed him something, which left her with two choices: she could kill him, or let him go. Somehow killing him had seemed wrong. So instead she had loosened his restraints and walked away. When the alarms went off, she realized what she had done.

What would the Master think of her now? He'd never stay with her, not after she'd let the Doctor go.

"Enough," Azula said, squaring up her shoulders and looking straight ahead at the plain gray wall. She was the Fire Lord, daughter of a great Fire Lord. She should not be pitying herself like a foolish child.

"Azula!"

And yet somehow her heart still leapt when she heard his voice.

She turned, wrapping her arms around her chest to hold the bouncing emotions inside.

"Master?" she asked, trying to make herself as imperial as possible. He couldn't abandon her if she was already gone.

"Azula, are you alright?" the Master asked, out of breath and clearly flustered. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Azula was surprised by the tenderness in his tone.

"No, he…" she was struggling for a response. He should be yelling, not reaching out to cradle her face. "I'm fine."

The Master nodded. "Did he trick you? He's very tricky."

Azula forced herself to think, to agree with him, but focusing was hard when his thumb brushed the corner of her mouth.

"He tricked me, yes."

The Master leaned closer, using his other hand to trap her face. "But you're alright."

Azula nodded as she wrapped her hands around his wrists, though whether it was to hold his hands in place or rip them away she couldn't be sure.

They stood there a moment, slowly leaning closer until their foreheads touched.

"I have a gift for you," the Master said. The cold air rushed in where his hands had been as he reached into his pocket.

It took a moment for Azula to place the flaming hairpiece. "This was mine!" she said, taking it from him and turning it over.

"It was," the Master replied. "I took it from your younger self."

Azula ran her fingers over the delicate carvings of the flames. "I remember."

The Master nodded again, his hands now tucked in his pockets.

Azula looked up from the hair piece, staring him in the eye. "Don't ever leave me," she ordered.

"I won't," the Master promised. It was the first promise he'd made in centuries that he intended to keep.

* * *

><p>Author's Note:<p>

Thank you so much. While this hasn't been quite as long I originally intended, considering it's been around 3 years in the making I'm very satisfied with it. Thank you for your comments and views, and thank you most of all for your patience! My beta wrote a brief epilogue: "Epilogue: 17 years later, the Master and Azula finished conquering Jupiter. They had decided to give it to their second child, Petunia, after they had given Venus to their eldest, Ivan, for his birthday."


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